Method and apparatus for vehicle control

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure provides a method and an apparatus for vehicle control. The method includes: obtaining (101) manual operation information of a vehicle; determining (102) an intervention intention of a driver based on the manual operation information; and controlling (103), when the vehicle is currently in an automated driving mode and the intervention intention is determined to be a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach a predetermined safe state and handing corresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver. The method and apparatus can solve potential safety problems in vehicle control and improve safety of the vehicle control.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/576,622 filed Sep. 19, 2019, which claims priority to Chinese PatentApplication No. 201710172083.6, titled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR VEHICLECONTROL”, filed on Mar. 22, 2017, the content of which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to vehicle engineering technology, andmore particularly, to a method and an apparatus for vehicle control.

BACKGROUND

Currently, in the field of automated driving, a manual driving mode andan automated driving mode are provided in order to control a vehicle.When the manual driving mode is activated, the full control of thevehicle is handed over to a driver immediately, such that the driver isin full control. When the automated driving mode is activated, thedriver hands over the full control of the vehicle to the vehicleimmediately, such that a main control unit of the vehicle can makedecisions and control the vehicle for automated driving based on signalsfrom sensors.

Currently, a physical switch is typically provided in the vehicle andthe driver can select to activate the manual driving mode or theautomated driving mode by triggering the physical switch, so as toachieve manual or automated control of the vehicle.

However, the existing scheme for vehicle control has the followingproblems.

(1) In the automated driving mode, when an emergency or a failure occursand a human intervention is thus required, e.g., to make an emergencybrake or a sharp turn, the driver in such an emergency may not be ableto trigger the physical switch to switch from the current automateddriving mode to the manual driving mode. In this case, the vehicle maynot respond to manual operations, resulting in loss of control of thevehicle and an accident.

(2) If the vehicle is switched from the automated driving mode directlyto the fully manual driving mode, since physiologically a human wouldneed some time to take over and respond, the driver may not be able tofully enter a manual driving state from an automated driving state.During this transition period, the driver may operate improperly, e.g.,the driver may erroneously step on a pedal or operate insufficiently orexcessively, which may also result in loss of control of the vehicle andan accident.

To summarize, the existing scheme for vehicle control has some majorsafety issues.

SUMMARY

In view of the above problem, the present disclosure provides a methodand an apparatus for vehicle control, capable of improving safety ofvehicle control and reducing vehicle accidents.

In an aspect, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, amethod for vehicle control is provided. The method includes: obtainingmanual operation information of a vehicle; determining an interventionintention of a driver based on the manual operation information; andcontrolling, when the vehicle is currently in an automated driving modeand the intervention intention is determined to be a slow intervention,the vehicle to reach a predetermined safe state and handingcorresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver.

Correspondingly, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,an apparatus for vehicle control is provided. The apparatus includes: anobtaining unit configured to obtain manual operation information of avehicle; a determining unit configured to determine an interventionintention of a driver based on the manual operation information; and afirst control unit configured to control, when the vehicle is currentlyin an automated driving mode and the intervention intention isdetermined to be a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach apredetermined safe state and hand corresponding control of the vehicleover to the driver.

In another aspect, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,an apparatus for vehicle control is provided. The apparatus includes aprocessor and at least one memory storing at least one machineexecutable instruction. The processor is operative to execute the atleast one machine executable instruction to: obtain manual operationinformation of a vehicle; determine an intervention intention of adriver based on the manual operation information; and control, when thevehicle is currently in an automated driving mode and the interventionintention is determined to be a slow intervention, the vehicle to reacha predetermined safe state and hand corresponding control of the vehicleover to the driver.

With the solutions according to the present disclosure, in an automateddriving mode and before switched to a manual driving mode, a vehicle canbe control to reach a safe state in response to determining that adriver is to intervene slowly based on manual operation information, andcorresponding control of the vehicle can be handed over to the driverwhile the vehicle is in the safe state. On one hand, the control of thevehicle can be transferred while ensuring safety of the vehicle. On theother hand, the corresponding control of the vehicle to be handed overto the driver can be partial or full control of the vehicle, which ismore flexible and allows responding and adapting time for the driver. Inthis way, the chance that the driver would operate erroneously can befurther reduced and the safety in driving the vehicle can be furtherimproved.

The other features and advantages of the present disclosure will beexplained in the following description, and will become apparent partlyfrom the description or be understood by implementing the presentdisclosure. The objects and other advantages of the present disclosurecan be achieved and obtained from the structures specificallyillustrated in the written description, claims and figures.

In the following, the solutions according to the present disclosure willbe described in detail with reference to the figures and embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures are provided for facilitating further understanding of thepresent disclosure. The figures constitute a portion of the descriptionand can be used in combination with the embodiments of the presentdisclosure to interpret, rather than limiting, the present disclosure.It is apparent to those skilled in the art that the figures describedbelow only illustrate some embodiments of the present disclosure andother figures can be obtained from these figures without applying anyinventive skills. In the figures:

FIG. 1 is a first flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a second flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a third flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a fourth flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a fifth flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a sixth flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a seventh flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a first schematic diagram showing a structure of an apparatusfor vehicle control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 9 is a second schematic diagram showing a structure of an apparatusfor vehicle control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 10 is a third schematic diagram showing a structure of an apparatusfor vehicle control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 11 is a fourth schematic diagram showing a structure of anapparatus for vehicle control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure; and

FIG. 12 is a fifth schematic diagram showing a structure of an apparatusfor vehicle control according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

In the following, the solutions according to the embodiments of thepresent disclosure will be described clearly and completely withreference to the figures, such that the solutions can be betterunderstood by those skilled in the art. Obviously, the embodimentsdescribed below are only some, rather than all, of the embodiments ofthe present disclosure. All other embodiments that can be obtained bythose skilled in the art based on the embodiments described in thepresent disclosure without any inventive efforts are to be encompassedby the scope of the present disclosure.

The core idea of the present disclosure has been described above. Thesolutions according to the embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in further detail below with reference to the figures, suchthat they can be better understood by those skilled in the art and thatthe above objects, features and advantages of the embodiments of thepresent disclosure will become more apparent.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for vehicle controlaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the method includes the following steps.

At step 101, manual operation information of a vehicle is obtained.

At step 102, an intervention intention of a driver is determined basedon the manual operation information.

At step 103, when the vehicle is currently in an automated driving modeand the intervention intention is determined to be a slow intervention,the vehicle is controlled to reach a predetermined safe state andcorresponding control of the vehicle is handed over to the driver.

Preferably, in order to avoid the problem that, when an emergency or anurgent situation occurs in an automated driving mode, a humanintervention is required but the vehicle does not respond, resulting ina vehicle accident, according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the method process shown in FIG. 1 may further include thefollowing step 104, as shown in FIG. 2 .

At step 104, when the vehicle is currently in the automated driving modeand the intervention intention is determined to be an emergencyintervention, the manual operation information can be responded to andcorresponding control of the vehicle can be handed over to the driver.

Preferably, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, in the abovestep 103 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the controlling of the vehicle toreach the predetermined safe state may include, but not limited to:controlling the vehicle to decelerate and maintain its lane, until thevehicle stops in a safe area. Here the safe area may be an emergencylane, a service area or a parking area. It can be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that the controlling may include: controlling thevehicle to change its lane and stop in a safe area such as an emergencylane, a service area or a parking area, or alternatively to follow avehicle. The present disclosure is not limited to any of these schemesand they can be used flexibly by those skilled in the art depending onactual requirements.

Preferably, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, there may bevarious types of schemes for obtaining the manual operation informationof the vehicle. The present disclosure is not limited to any of theseschemes. For example, the manual operation information can be obtainedusing any one or more or combination of the following schemes.

Scheme 1: A control instruction issued by the driver to operate alateral controller (e.g., a steering wheel or any other steeringmechanism) and/or a longitudinal controller (e.g., a brake controller ora throttle controller) of the vehicle can be collected, and the manualoperation information can be obtained from the control instruction. Forexample, an opening degree of a brake pedal can be collected when thedriver steps on the pedal and converted into a value for a brakingdegree by which the vehicle is controlled to brake, and then adeceleration request signal can be transmitted to a vehicle-mountedController Area Network (CAN) bus.

Scheme 2: A voice instruction from and driver can be collected, and themanual operation information can be obtained by identifying the voiceinstruction. For example, the voice instruction from and driver can becollected using a voice collection device in a Human Machine Interface(HMI) system, and voice identified to obtain semantics corresponding tothe voice instruction. The semantics can be compared with a set ofpredefined instructions to obtain a predefined control instruction to beexecuted, i.e., the manual operation information. For example, when thevoice instruction from the driver is “emergency brake now”, thecorresponding semantics obtained can be “emergency brake” and thecorresponding manual operation information can be “brake 100%”.

Scheme 3: Touch information indicating a particular gesture made by thedriver in a particular area on a touch display device can be collected,and the manual operation information can be obtained by identifying thetouch information. For example, with a touch display device in an HMIsystem, a predefined control instruction to be executed (i.e., themanual operation information) can be obtained by identifying a gesturemade by the driver in a touch area on the touch display device. Forexample, a particular area (for example) on the touch display device canbe preconfigured as a turning area, and three fingers sliding leftwardssimultaneously may mean turning left, three fingers sliding rightwardssimultaneously may mean turning right, three fingers sliding upwardssimultaneously may mean going straight ahead, three fingers slidingdownwards simultaneously may mean reversing, and one finger drawing acircle may mean stopping, etc. This can be configured flexibly by thoseskilled in the art depending on actual requirements and user customs,and the present disclosure is not limited to this.

Scheme 4: A control instruction inputted by the driver via apreconfigured physical switch can be received, and the manual operationinformation can be obtained by parsing the control instruction. Forexample, a physical switch (e.g., a rocker switch, an auto resettableswitch or an auto-lock switch) can be provided at a position in thevehicle that is convenient for a user to operate, e.g., on a steeringwheel. The driver can input the control instruction via the physicalswitch. This can be configured flexibly by those skilled in the artdepending on actual requirements and user customs, and the presentdisclosure is not limited to this.

Scheme 5: The manual operation information can be obtained byidentifying an operation on a rocker or a handle. For example, acommunication protocol can be predefined for each operation of therocker and a higher layer vehicle controller can receive and parse asignal from a rocker controller to obtain the control instruction to beexecuted (i.e., the manual operation information). For example, pushingthe rocker forward may mean acceleration, pushing the rocker rightwardsmay mean turning left, and a function key 1 may mean brake, etc. Thiscan be configured flexibly by those skilled in the art depending onactual requirements and user customs, and the present disclosure is notlimited to this.

Scheme 6: A control instruction issued by the driver by executing apreconfigured application on a smart terminal can be received, and themanual operation information can be obtained by parsing the controlinstruction. For example, with a smart terminal connected to an internalnetwork of the vehicle, the driver can execute a preconfiguredapplication on the smart terminal and an instruction issued by thedriver by executing the preconfigured application can be uploaded to ahigher layer vehicle controller, such that the higher layer vehiclecontroller can parse the instruction to obtain the control instructionto be executed (i.e., the manual operation information).

Scheme 7: Brainwave information of the driver can be collected using abrainwave collector, and the manual operation information can beobtained by identifying the brainwave information. For example, thebrainwave collector may be connected to a higher layer vehiclecontroller, such that the brainwave of the driver can be identified toobtain the predefined control instruction to be executed (i.e., themanual operation information).

Scheme 8: A body movement and/or a facial expression of the driver canbe captured using a monitoring sensor, and the manual operationinformation can be obtained from the body movement and/or the facialexpression. For example, a camera or a radar can be provided in thedriver's cab and to monitor the driver's health state or mental stateand to identify driver's body movement and/or facial expression, so asto obtain the predefined control instruction to be executed. Forexample, the driver raising his/her hand and moving the hand leftwardsmay mean turning left, the driver raising his/her hand and moving thehand rightwards may mean turning right (referring to e.g., gestures oftraffic police). This can be configured flexibly by those skilled in theart depending on actual requirements and user customs, and the presentdisclosure is not limited to this.

When one of the above schemes is used in the above step 101, the schemecan be used to obtain the corresponding manual operation information.When two or more of the above schemes are used in the above step 101,the final manual operation information can be, but not limited to be,obtained by: 1) obtaining initial manual operation information usingeach of the schemes, evaluating a confidence level of each piece ofinitial manual operation information and selecting the initial manualoperation information having the highest confidence level as the finalmanual operation information; or 2) obtaining initial manual operationinformation using each of the schemes, and determining the initialmanual operation information having the most pieces of the same initialmanual operation information as the final manual operation information,by applying a majority rule.

Preferably, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, lateral control,longitudinal control and other control (e.g., activation/deactivation ofthe automated driving mode, stop/start, control of turn signal lights,control of windshield wipers, etc.) of the vehicle can be achieved. Inorder to describe the solutions of the present disclosure in furtherdetail such that they can be better understood by those skilled in theart, detailed description will be given below with reference to someexamples.

With the solutions according to the present disclosure, in an automateddriving mode and before switched to a manual driving mode, a vehicle canbe control to reach a safe state in response to determining that adriver is to intervene slowly based on manual operation information, andcorresponding control of the vehicle can be handed over to the driverwhile the vehicle is in the safe state. On one hand, the control of thevehicle can be transferred while ensuring safety of the vehicle. On theother hand, the corresponding control of the vehicle to be handed overto the driver can be partial or full control of the vehicle, which ismore flexible and allows responding and adapting time for the driver. Inthis way, the chance that the driver would operate erroneously can befurther reduced and the safety in driving the vehicle can be furtherimproved.

Embodiment 2—Longitudinal Control of Vehicle

In Embodiment 2 of the present disclosure, an acceleration control, adeceleration control, or an acceleration and deceleration control of avehicle can be achieved.

In the above methods shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 , the above manual operationinformation can include manual longitudinal operation informationindicating an operation on a longitudinal controller of the vehicle. Theabove step 102 of determining the intervention intention of the driverbased on the manual operation information can be implemented using thefollowing steps A1˜A2, as shown in FIG. 3 .

At step A1, automated longitudinal operation information indicating anoperation on the longitudinal controller of the vehicle as calculatedduring automated driving of the vehicle can be obtained.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an unmanned driving controlunit provided on the vehicle can make decisions and control controllerson the vehicle, e.g., to control the vehicle to decelerate, accelerate,change its lane or stop, based on state information of the vehicle andenvironment information collected by sensors provided on the vehicle.The unmanned driving control unit can be implemented using a higherlayer vehicle controller, e.g., a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA),a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), aVehicle Control Unit (VCU), an industrial computer or any other devicecapable of information processing. In the above step A1, a request canbe transmitted to the unmanned driving control unit for obtaining theautomated longitudinal operation information indicating the operation onthe longitudinal controller of the vehicle. Alternatively, informationtransmitted periodically from the unmanned driving control unit can bereceived passively and the automated longitudinal operation informationindicating the operation on the longitudinal controller of the vehiclecan be obtained from the information. The present disclosure is notlimited to any specific approach for obtaining the automatedlongitudinal operation information indicating the operation on thelongitudinal controller of the vehicle.

At step A2, the intervention intention of the driver is determined basedon a comparison between the manual longitudinal operation informationand the automated longitudinal operation information.

Preferably, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the manuallongitudinal operation information can include a first valuerepresenting an extent of operation on the longitudinal controller bythe driver and the automated longitudinal operation information caninclude a second value representing a calculated extent of operation onthe longitudinal controller (calculated by the above unmanned drivingcontrol unit). In this case, the step A2 shown in FIG. 3 can beimplemented using a step A21, as shown in FIG. 4 .

At step A21, the intervention intention of the driver is determinedbased on the first value and the second value.

In particular, the above step A21 can be implemented using any of thefollowing

Solutions 1˜3.

Solution 1: The intervention intention of the driver can be determinedto be the slow intervention when determining that the first value islarger than the second value and a difference between the first valueand the second value is between a first threshold and a secondthreshold, the first threshold being smaller than the second threshold.

Solution 2: The intervention intention of the driver can be determinedto be the emergency intervention when determining that the first valueis larger than the second value and the difference between the firstvalue and the second value is larger than the second threshold.

Solution 3: The intervention intention of the driver can be determinedto be the slow intervention when determining that the first value islarger than the second value and the difference between the first valueand the second value is between the first threshold and the secondthreshold, the first threshold being smaller than the second threshold,or to be the emergency intervention when determining that the firstvalue is larger than the second value and the difference between thefirst value and the second value is larger than the second threshold.

Preferably, in order to avoid errors in the vehicle control due toresponse to the manual operation information when the driver operateserroneously, the above Solutions 1˜3 can further include: whendetermining that the first value is smaller than or equal to the secondvalue, or that the first value is larger than the second value and thedifference between the first value and the second value is smaller thanthe first threshold, determining that the intervention intention of thedriver is an erroneous operation. In this case, the manual operationinformation of the driver is not responded to.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first threshold and thesecond threshold can be set depending on actual requirements and thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto.

Preferably, when the intervention intention of the driver is determinedto be the emergency intervention based on the first value and the secondvalue, the step 104 of responding to the manual operation informationand handing corresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver inthe method shown in FIG. 4 may include, as shown in FIG. 5 : controllingthe longitudinal controller based on the first value and handinglongitudinal control or full control of the vehicle over to the driver.

In the following, three examples will be given to describe thedeceleration control, the acceleration control and the acceleration anddeceleration control, respectively.

Example 1—Deceleration Control

In Example 1, the longitudinal controller is a brake controller. Theabove first value is a value representing an extent of brake inoperating the brake controller by the driver, and the above second valueis a value representing an extent of brake in operating the brakecontroller as calculated by the unmanned driving control unit. Theextent of brake may refer to an opening degree of a brake pedal, adeceleration value or a torque value of an engine, and the presentdisclosure is not limited to any of these.

Example 2—Acceleration Control

In Example 2, the longitudinal controller is a throttle controller. Theabove first value a value representing an extent of acceleration inoperating the throttle controller by the driver, and the above secondvalue a value representing an extent of acceleration in operating thethrottle controller as calculated by the unmanned driving control unit.The extent of brake may refer to an opening degree of a throttle pedal,an acceleration value, a torque value of an engine or a throttlepercentage, and the present disclosure is not limited to any of these.

Example 3—Acceleration and Deceleration Control

Preferably, in order to avoid incorrect vehicle control caused bycontrolling the brake controller and the throttle controllersimultaneously due to erroneous operations by the user, in an embodimentof the present disclosure, priorities can be set in advance, such thatthe priority of the deceleration control is higher than that of theacceleration control. When the manual longitudinal operation informationincludes first information indicating a deceleration control of thevehicle (i.e., operation information indicating the operation on thebrake controller), the intervention intention of the driver isdetermined based on the first information. When the manual longitudinaloperation information includes second information indicating anacceleration control of the vehicle (i.e., operation informationindicating the operation on the throttle controller), it is alsorequired to determine whether the manual longitudinal operationinformation also includes the above first information, and if so, theintervention intention of the driver is determined based on the firstinformation, or otherwise the intervention intention of the driver isdetermined based on the second information.

Thus, in the above method process shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 , the stepA2 may further include steps A22˜A23. For example, the method shown inFIG. 4 may further include steps A22˜A23, as shown in FIG. 6 .

At step A22, before the step A21, it is identified whether the manuallongitudinal operation information includes a third value representingan extent of brake in operating a brake controller. If so, the processproceeds with step A23, or otherwise the process proceeds with step A21.

At step A23, the intervention intention of the driver is determinedbased on the third value and a fourth value included in the automatedlongitudinal operation information and representing an extent of brakein operating the brake controller.

In particular, in the step A23, the intervention intention of the drivercan be determined to be the slow intervention when the third value islarger than the fourth value and a difference between the third valueand the fourth value is between a third threshold and a fourththreshold, the third threshold being smaller than the fourth threshold.The intervention intention of the driver can be determined to be theemergency intervention when the third value is larger than the fourthvalue and the difference between the third value and the fourth value islarger than the fourth threshold. When the third value is smaller thanthe fourth value, the step A21 will be performed.

Embodiment 3—Lateral Control of Vehicle

In Embodiment 3, the above manual operation information in the abovemethods shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 can include manual lateral operationinformation indicating an operation on a lateral controller (e.g., asteering wheel) of the vehicle. As shown in FIG. 7 , the above step 102of determining the intervention intention of the driver based on themanual operation information may include: determining whether a fifthvalue included in the manual longitudinal operation information andrepresenting an extent of operation on the lateral controller is largerthan a predetermined fifth threshold, and if so, determining theintervention intention of the driver to be the emergency intervention.The step of responding to the manual operation information and handingthe corresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver may include:controlling the lateral controller based on the fifth value and handinglateral control or full control of the vehicle over to the driver.

In Embodiment 3 of the present disclosure, the manual lateral operationinformation may include an actual torque value actually applied by thesteering wheel to a hydraulic steering mechanism or a hydraulic-electrichybrid steering mechanism or any other steering actuator of the vehicle.

Based on the same concept as the above method for vehicle control, anapparatus for vehicle control is provided according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The structure of the apparatus will be describedin detail with reference to the following embodiments.

Embodiment 4

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of an apparatus forvehicle control according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 8 , the apparatus includes: an obtaining unit 81configured to obtain manual operation information of a vehicle; adetermining unit 82 configured to determine an intervention intention ofa driver based on the manual operation information; and a first controlunit 83 configured to control, when the vehicle is currently in anautomated driving mode and the intervention intention is determined tobe a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach a predetermined safe stateand hand corresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver.

Preferably, in order to avoid the problem that, when an emergency or anurgent situation occurs in an automated driving mode, a humanintervention is required but the vehicle does not respond, resulting ina vehicle accident, the apparatus may further include a second controlunit 84 configured to respond, when the vehicle is currently in theautomated driving mode and the intervention intention is determined tobe an emergency intervention, to the manual operation information andhand corresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver, as shownin FIG. 9 .

Preferably, the first control unit 83 controlling the vehicle to reachthe predetermined safe state can include: controlling the vehicle todecelerate and maintain its lane, until the vehicle stops in a safearea. Here the safe area may be an emergency lane, a service area or aparking area.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the first control unit 83can be configured to control the vehicle to change its lane and stop ina safe area such as an emergency lane, a service area or a parking area,or alternatively to follow a vehicle. This can be set flexibly by thoseskilled in the art depending on actual requirements.

Preferably, as described above, there may be various types of schemesfor the obtaining unit 81 to obtain the manual operation information ofthe vehicle. The present disclosure is not limited to any of theseschemes. For example, the manual operation information can be obtainedusing any one or more or combination of the following schemes.

Scheme 1: A control instruction issued by the driver to operate alateral controller (e.g., a steering wheel or any other steeringmechanism) and/or a longitudinal controller (e.g., a brake controller ora throttle controller) of the vehicle can be collected, and the manualoperation information can be obtained from the control instruction. Forexample, an opening degree of a brake pedal can be collected when thedriver steps on the pedal and converted into a value for a brakingdegree by which the vehicle is controlled to brake, and then adeceleration request signal can be transmitted to a vehicle-mounted CANbus.

Scheme 2: A voice instruction from and driver can be collected, and themanual operation information can be obtained by identifying the voiceinstruction. For example, the voice instruction from and driver can becollected using a voice collection device in an HMI system, and voiceidentified to obtain semantics corresponding to the voice instruction.The semantics can be compared with a set of predefined instructions toobtain a predefined control instruction to be executed, i.e., the manualoperation information. For example, when the voice instruction from thedriver is “emergency brake now”, the corresponding semantics obtainedcan be “emergency brake” and the corresponding manual operationinformation can be “brake 100%”.

Scheme 3: Touch information indicating a particular gesture made by thedriver in a particular area on a touch display device can be collected,and the manual operation information can be obtained by identifying thetouch information. For example, with a touch display device in an HMIsystem, a predefined control instruction to be executed (i.e., themanual operation information) can be obtained by identifying a gesturemade by the driver in a touch area on the touch display device. Forexample, a particular area (for example) on the touch display device canbe preconfigured as a turning area, and three fingers sliding leftwardssimultaneously may mean turning left, three fingers sliding rightwardssimultaneously may mean turning right, three fingers sliding upwardssimultaneously may mean going straight ahead, three fingers slidingdownwards simultaneously may mean reversing, and one finger drawing acircle may mean stopping, etc. This can be configured flexibly by thoseskilled in the art depending on actual requirements and user customs,and the present disclosure is not limited to this.

Scheme 4: A control instruction inputted by the driver via apreconfigured physical switch can be received, and the manual operationinformation can be obtained by parsing the control instruction. Forexample, a physical switch (e.g., a rocker switch, an auto resettableswitch or an auto-lock switch) can be provided at a position in thevehicle that is convenient for a user to operate, e.g., on a steeringwheel. The driver can input the control instruction via the physicalswitch. This can be configured flexibly by those skilled in the artdepending on actual requirements and user customs, and the presentdisclosure is not limited to this.

Scheme 5: The manual operation information can be obtained byidentifying an operation on a rocker or a handle. For example, acommunication protocol can be predefined for each operation of therocker and a higher layer vehicle controller can receive and parse asignal from a rocker controller to obtain the control instruction to beexecuted (i.e., the manual operation information). For example, pushingthe rocker forward may mean acceleration, pushing the rocker rightwardsmay mean turning left, and a function key 1 may mean brake, etc. Thiscan be configured flexibly by those skilled in the art depending onactual requirements and user customs, and the present disclosure is notlimited to this.

Scheme 6: A control instruction issued by the driver by executing apreconfigured application on a smart terminal can be received, and themanual operation information can be obtained by parsing the controlinstruction. For example, with a smart terminal connected to an internalnetwork of the vehicle, the driver can execute a preconfiguredapplication on the smart terminal and an instruction issued by thedriver by executing the preconfigured application can be uploaded to ahigher layer vehicle controller, such that the higher layer vehiclecontroller can parse the instruction to obtain the control instructionto be executed (i.e., the manual operation information).

Scheme 7: Brainwave information of the driver can be collected using abrainwave collector, and the manual operation information can beobtained by identifying the brainwave information. For example, thebrainwave collector may be connected to a higher layer vehiclecontroller, such that the brainwave of the driver can be identified toobtain the predefined control instruction to be executed (i.e., themanual operation information).

Scheme 8: A body movement and/or a facial expression of the driver canbe captured using a monitoring sensor, and the manual operationinformation can be obtained from the body movement and/or the facialexpression. For example, a camera or a radar can be provided in thedriver's cab and to monitor the driver's health state or mental stateand to identify driver's body movement and/or facial expression, so asto obtain the predefined control instruction to be executed. Forexample, the driver raising his/her hand and moving the hand leftwardsmay mean turning left, the driver raising his/her hand and moving thehand rightwards may mean turning right (referring to e.g., gestures oftraffic police). This can be configured flexibly by those skilled in theart depending on actual requirements and user customs, and the presentdisclosure is not limited to this.

When one of the above schemes is used by the obtaining unit 81, thescheme can be used to obtain the corresponding manual operationinformation. When two or more of the above schemes are used by theobtaining unit 81, the final manual operation information can be, butnot limited to be, obtained by: 1) obtaining initial manual operationinformation using each of the schemes, evaluating a confidence level ofeach piece of initial manual operation information and selecting theinitial manual operation information having the highest confidence levelas the final manual operation information; or 2) obtaining initialmanual operation information using each of the schemes, and determiningthe initial manual operation information having the most pieces of thesame initial manual operation information as the final manual operationinformation, by applying a majority rule.

Preferably, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, lateral control,longitudinal control and other control (e.g., activation/deactivation ofthe automated driving mode, stop/start, control of turn signal lights,control of windshield wipers, etc.) of the vehicle can be achieved. Inorder to describe the solutions of the present disclosure in furtherdetail such that they can be better understood by those skilled in theart, detailed description will be given below with reference to someexamples.

Embodiment 5—Longitudinal Control of Vehicle

With the apparatus for vehicle control according to Embodiment 5 of thepresent disclosure, an acceleration control, a deceleration control, oran acceleration and deceleration control of a vehicle can be achieved.

Preferably, the manual operation information can include manuallongitudinal operation information indicating an operation on alongitudinal controller of the vehicle. In particular, the determiningunit 82 shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 can include an obtaining sub-unit 821and a first determining sub-unit 822, as shown in FIG. 10 .

The obtaining sub-unit 821 can be configured to obtain automatedlongitudinal operation information indicating an operation on thelongitudinal controller of the vehicle as calculated during automateddriving of the vehicle.

In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an unmanned driving controlunit provided on the vehicle can make decisions and control controllerson the vehicle, e.g., to control the vehicle to decelerate, accelerate,change its lane or stop, based on state information of the vehicle andenvironment information collected by sensors provided on the vehicle.The unmanned driving control unit can be implemented using a higherlayer vehicle controller, e.g., an FPGA, a DSP, an ECU, a VCU, anindustrial computer or any other device capable of informationprocessing. The above obtaining sub-unit 821 can transmit a request tothe unmanned driving control unit for obtaining the automatedlongitudinal operation information indicating the operation on thelongitudinal controller of the vehicle. Alternatively, the obtainingsub-unit 821 can passively receive information transmitted periodicallyfrom the unmanned driving control unit and obtain the automatedlongitudinal operation information indicating the operation on thelongitudinal controller of the vehicle from the information. The presentdisclosure is not limited to any specific approach for the obtainingsub-unit 821 to obtain the automated longitudinal operation informationindicating the operation on the longitudinal controller of the vehicle.

The first determining sub-unit 822 is configured to determine theintervention intention of the driver based on a comparison between themanual longitudinal operation information and the automated longitudinaloperation information.

Preferably, in an embodiment of the present disclosure, the manuallongitudinal operation information can include a first valuerepresenting an extent of operation on the longitudinal controller bythe driver and the automated longitudinal operation information caninclude a second value representing a calculated extent of operation onthe longitudinal controller (calculated by the above unmanned drivingcontrol unit). In this case, the first determining sub-unit 822 can beconfigured to determine the intervention intention of the driver basedon the first value and the second value.

The first determining sub-unit 822 can determine the interventionintention of the driver based on the first value and the second value,using any of the following Solutions 1˜3.

Solution 1: The intervention intention of the driver can be determinedto be the slow intervention when determining that the first value islarger than the second value and a difference between the first valueand the second value is between a first threshold and a secondthreshold, the first threshold being smaller than the second threshold.

Solution 2: The intervention intention of the driver can be determinedto be the emergency intervention when determining that the first valueis larger than the second value and the difference between the firstvalue and the second value is larger than the second threshold.

Solution 3: The intervention intention of the driver can be determinedto be the slow intervention when determining that the first value islarger than the second value and the difference between the first valueand the second value is between the first threshold and the secondthreshold, the first threshold being smaller than the second threshold,or to be the emergency intervention when determining that the firstvalue is larger than the second value and the difference between thefirst value and the second value is larger than the second threshold.

Preferably, the above first determining sub-unit 822 can be furtherconfigured to: when determining that the first value is smaller than orequal to the second value, or that the first value is larger than thesecond value and the difference between the first value and the secondvalue is smaller than the first threshold, determine that theintervention intention of the driver is an erroneous operation. In thiscase, the manual operation information of the driver is not respondedto.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first threshold and thesecond threshold can be set depending on actual requirements and thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto.

Preferably, when the first determining sub-unit 822 determines theintervention intention to be the emergency intervention based on thefirst value and the second value, the second control unit 84 can beconfigured to respond to the manual operation information and handcorresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver by controllingthe longitudinal controller based on the first value and handinglongitudinal control or full control of the vehicle over to the driver.

In the following, three examples will be given to describe thedeceleration control, the acceleration control and the acceleration anddeceleration control, respectively.

Example 1—Deceleration Control

The longitudinal controller is a brake controller. The above first valueis a value representing an extent of brake in operating the brakecontroller by the driver, and the above second value is a valuerepresenting an extent of brake in operating the brake controller ascalculated by the unmanned driving control unit. The extent of brake mayrefer to an opening degree of a brake pedal, a deceleration value or atorque value of an engine, and the present disclosure is not limited toany of these.

Example 2—Acceleration Control

In Example 2, the longitudinal controller is a throttle controller. Theabove first value a value representing an extent of acceleration inoperating the throttle controller by the driver, and the above secondvalue a value representing an extent of acceleration in operating thethrottle controller as calculated by the unmanned driving control unit.The extent of brake may refer to an opening degree of a throttle pedal,an acceleration value, a torque value of an engine or a throttlepercentage, and the present disclosure is not limited to any of these.

Example 3—Acceleration and Deceleration Control

Preferably, in order to avoid incorrect vehicle control caused bycontrolling the brake controller and the throttle controllersimultaneously due to erroneous operations by the user, in an embodimentof the present disclosure, priorities can be set in advance, such thatthe priority of the deceleration control is higher than that of theacceleration control. When the manual longitudinal operation informationincludes first information indicating a deceleration control of thevehicle (i.e., operation information indicating the operation on thebrake controller), the intervention intention of the driver isdetermined based on the first information. When the manual longitudinaloperation information includes second information indicating anacceleration control of the vehicle (i.e., operation informationindicating the operation on the throttle controller), it is alsorequired to determine whether the manual longitudinal operationinformation also includes the above first information, and if so, theintervention intention of the driver is determined based on the firstinformation, or otherwise the intervention intention of the driver isdetermined based on the second information.

Preferably, the determining unit 82 shown in FIG. 10 can further includean identifying sub-unit 823 and a second determining sub-unit 824, asshown in FIG. 11 .

The identifying sub-unit 823 can be configured to identify whether themanual longitudinal operation information includes a third valuerepresenting an extent of brake in operating a brake controller, and ifso, trigger the second determining sub-unit 824, or otherwise triggerthe first determining sub-unit 822.

The second determining sub-unit 824 can be configured to determine theintervention intention of the driver based on the third value and afourth value included in the automated longitudinal operationinformation and representing an extent of brake in operating the brakecontroller, which includes: determining the intervention intention ofthe driver to be the slow intervention when the third value is largerthan the fourth value and a difference between the third value and thefourth value is between a third threshold and a fourth threshold, thethird threshold being smaller than the fourth threshold; determining theintervention intention of the driver to be the emergency interventionwhen the third value is larger than the fourth value and the differencebetween the third value and the fourth value is larger than the fourththreshold; or triggering the first determining sub-unit 822 when thethird value is smaller than the fourth value.

Embodiment 6—Lateral Control of Vehicle

Preferably, the manual operation information may include manual lateraloperation information indicating an operation on a lateral controller.

The determining unit 82 can be configured to determine whether a fifthvalue included in the manual longitudinal operation information andrepresenting an extent of operation on the lateral controller is largerthan a predetermined fifth threshold, and if so, determine theintervention intention of the driver to be the emergency intervention.

The second control unit 84 can be configured to control the lateralcontroller based on the fifth value and hand lateral control or fullcontrol of the vehicle over to the driver.

The manual lateral operation information may include an actual torquevalue actually applied by the steering wheel to a hydraulic steeringmechanism or a hydraulic-electric hybrid steering mechanism or any othersteering actuator of the vehicle.

Embodiment 7

Based on the same concept, an apparatus for vehicle control is providedaccording to the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 12 , in anexemplary embodiment, the apparatus includes a processor 2001 and atleast one memory 2002 storing at least one machine executableinstruction. The processor 2001 is operative to execute the at least onemachine executable instruction to: obtain manual operation informationof a vehicle; determine an intervention intention of a driver based onthe manual operation information; and control, when the vehicle iscurrently in an automated driving mode and the intervention intention isdetermined to be a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach apredetermined safe state and hand corresponding control of the vehicleover to the driver.

The processor 2001 can be further operative to execute the at least onemachine executable instruction to: respond, when the vehicle iscurrently in the automated driving mode and the intervention intentionis determined to be an emergency intervention, to the manual operationinformation and hand corresponding control of the vehicle over to thedriver.

The processor 2001 being operative to execute the at least one machineexecutable instruction to control the vehicle to reach the predeterminedsafe state may include the processor 2001 being operative to execute theat least one machine executable instruction to: control the vehicle todecelerate and maintain its lane, until the vehicle stops in a safearea.

The manual operation information may include manual longitudinaloperation information indicating an operation on a longitudinalcontroller of the vehicle. The processor 2001 being operative to executethe at least one machine executable instruction to determine theintervention intention of the driver based on the manual operationinformation may include the processor 2001 being operative to executethe at least one machine executable instruction to: obtain automatedlongitudinal operation information indicating an operation on thelongitudinal controller of the vehicle as calculated during automateddriving of the vehicle; and determine the intervention intention of thedriver based on a comparison between the manual longitudinal operationinformation and the automated longitudinal operation information.

The manual longitudinal operation information may include a first valuerepresenting an extent of operation on the longitudinal controller bythe driver and the automated longitudinal operation information mayinclude a second value representing a calculated extent of operation onthe longitudinal controller. The processor 2001 being operative toexecute the at least one machine executable instruction to determine theintervention intention of the driver based on the comparison between themanual longitudinal operation information and the automated longitudinaloperation information may include the processor 2001 being operative toexecute the at least one machine executable instruction to: determinethe intervention intention of the driver based on the first value andthe second value. The processor 2001 being operative to execute the atleast one machine executable instruction to determine the interventionintention of the driver based on the first value and the second valuemay include the processor 2001 being operative to execute the at leastone machine executable instruction to: determine the interventionintention of the driver to be the slow intervention when determiningthat the first value is larger than the second value and a differencebetween the first value and the second value is between a firstthreshold and a second threshold, the first threshold being smaller thanthe second threshold; and/or determine the intervention intention of thedriver to be the emergency intervention when determining that the firstvalue is larger than the second value and the difference between thefirst value and the second value is larger than the second threshold.

The longitudinal controller can be a brake controller, and each of thefirst value and the second value can be a value representing an extentof brake in operating the brake controller.

The longitudinal controller can be a throttle controller, and each ofthe first value and the second value can be a value representing anextent of acceleration in operating the throttle controller.

The processor 2001 can be further operative to execute the at least onemachine executable instruction to, prior to the processor 2001 beingoperative to execute the at least one machine executable instruction todetermine the intervention intention of the driver based on the firstvalue and the second value: identify whether the manual longitudinaloperation information includes a third value representing an extent ofbrake in operating a brake controller, and if so: determine theintervention intention of the driver based on the third value and afourth value included in the automated longitudinal operationinformation and representing an extent of brake in operating the brakecontroller, comprising: determining the intervention intention of thedriver to be the slow intervention when the third value is larger thanthe fourth value and a difference between the third value and the fourthvalue is between a third threshold and a fourth threshold, the thirdthreshold being smaller than the fourth threshold; determining theintervention intention of the driver to be the emergency interventionwhen the third value is larger than the fourth value and the differencebetween the third value and the fourth value is larger than the fourththreshold; or performing the step of determining the interventionintention of the driver based on the first value and the second valuewhen the third value is smaller than the fourth value; or otherwise:perform the step of determining the intervention intention of the driverbased on the first value and the second value when the third value issmaller than the fourth value.

The processor 2001 being operative to execute the at least one machineexecutable instruction to respond, when the vehicle is currently in theautomated driving mode and the intervention intention is determined tobe the emergency intervention, to the manual operation information andhand the corresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver mayinclude the processor 2001 being operative to execute the at least onemachine executable instruction to: control the longitudinal controllerbased on the first value and hand longitudinal control or full controlof the vehicle over to the driver.

The manual operation information may include manual lateral operationinformation indicating an operation on a lateral controller. Theprocessor 2001 being operative to execute the at least one machineexecutable instruction to determine the intervention intention of thedriver based on the manual operation information may include theprocessor 2001 being operative to execute the at least one machineexecutable instruction to: determine whether a fifth value included inthe manual longitudinal operation information and representing an extentof operation on the lateral controller is larger than a predeterminedfifth threshold, and if so, determine the intervention intention of thedriver to be the emergency intervention. The processor 2001 beingoperative to execute the at least one machine executable instruction torespond to the manual operation information and hand the correspondingcontrol of the vehicle over to the driver may include the processor 2001being operative to execute the at least one machine executableinstruction to: control the lateral controller based on the fifth valueand hand lateral control or full control of the vehicle over to thedriver.

The processor 2001 being operative to execute the at least one machineexecutable instruction to obtain the manual operation information of thevehicle may include the processor 2001 being operative to execute the atleast one machine executable instruction to: collect a controlinstruction issued by the driver to operate a lateral controller and/ora longitudinal controller of the vehicle, and obtain the manualoperation information from the control instruction; and/or collect avoice instruction from and driver, and obtain the manual operationinformation by identifying the voice instruction; and/or collect touchinformation indicating a particular gesture made by the driver in aparticular area on a touch display device, and obtain the manualoperation information by identifying the touch information; and/orreceive a control instruction inputted by the driver via a preconfiguredphysical switch, and obtain the manual operation information by parsingthe control instruction; and/or obtain the manual operation informationby identifying an operation on a rocker or a handle; and/or receive acontrol instruction issued by the driver by executing a preconfiguredapplication on a smart terminal, and obtain the manual operationinformation by parsing the control instruction; and/or collect brainwaveinformation of the driver using a brainwave collector, and obtain themanual operation information by identifying the brainwave information;and/or capture a body movement and/or a facial expression of the driverusing a monitoring sensor, and obtain the manual operation informationfrom the body movement and/or the facial expression.

Based on the same concept as the above method, a storage medium (whichcan be a non-volatile machine readable storage medium) is providedaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The storage mediumstores a computer program for vehicle control. The computer programincludes codes configured to: obtain manual operation information of avehicle; determine an intervention intention of a driver based on themanual operation information; and control, when the vehicle is currentlyin an automated driving mode and the intervention intention isdetermined to be a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach apredetermined safe state and hand corresponding control of the vehicleover to the driver.

Based on the same concept as the above method, a computer program isprovided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Thecomputer program includes codes for vehicle control, the codes beingconfigured to: obtain manual operation information of a vehicle;determine an intervention intention of a driver based on the manualoperation information; and control, when the vehicle is currently in anautomated driving mode and the intervention intention is determined tobe a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach a predetermined safe stateand hand corresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver.

To summarize, with the solutions according to the present disclosure, inan automated driving mode and before switched to a manual driving mode,a vehicle can be control to reach a safe state in response todetermining that a driver is to intervene slowly based on manualoperation information, and corresponding control of the vehicle can behanded over to the driver while the vehicle is in the safe state. On onehand, the control of the vehicle can be transferred while ensuringsafety of the vehicle. On the other hand, the corresponding control ofthe vehicle to be handed over to the driver can be partial or fullcontrol of the vehicle, which is more flexible and allows responding andadapting time for the driver. In this way, the chance that the driverwould operate erroneously can be further reduced and the safety indriving the vehicle can be further improved.

The basic principles of the present disclosure have been described abovewith reference to the embodiments. However, it can be appreciated bythose skilled in the art that all or any of the steps or components ofthe method or apparatus according to the present disclosure can beimplemented in hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereofin any computing device (including a processor, a storage medium, etc.)or a network of computing devices. This can be achieved by those skilledin the art using their basic programing skills based on the descriptionof the present disclosure.

It can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that all or part ofthe steps in the method according to the above embodiment can beimplemented in hardware following instructions of a program. The programcan be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The program, whenexecuted, may include one or any combination of the steps in the methodaccording to the above embodiment.

Further, the functional units in the embodiments of the presentdisclosure can be integrated into one processing module or can bephysically separate, or two or more units can be integrated into onemodule. Such integrated module can be implemented in hardware orsoftware functional units. When implemented in software functional unitsand sold or used as a standalone product, the integrated module can bestored in a computer readable storage medium.

It can be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the embodimentsof the present disclosure can be implemented as a method, a system or acomputer program product. The present disclosure may include purehardware embodiments, pure software embodiments and any combinationthereof. Also, the present disclosure may include a computer programproduct implemented on one or more computer readable storage mediums(including, but not limited to, magnetic disk storage and opticalstorage) containing computer readable program codes.

The present disclosure has been described with reference to theflowcharts and/or block diagrams of the method, device (system) andcomputer program product according to the embodiments of the presentdisclosure. It can be appreciated that each process and/or block in theflowcharts and/or block diagrams, or any combination thereof, can beimplemented by computer program instructions. Such computer programinstructions can be provided to a general computer, a dedicatedcomputer, an embedded processor or a processor of any other programmabledata processing device to constitute a machine, such that theinstructions executed by a processor of a computer or any otherprogrammable data processing device can constitute means forimplementing the functions specified by one or more processes in theflowcharts and/or one or more blocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions can also be stored in a computerreadable memory that can direct a computer or any other programmabledata processing device to operate in a particular way. Thus, theinstructions stored in the computer readable memory constitute amanufacture including instruction means for implementing the functionsspecified by one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or one or moreblocks in the block diagrams.

These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computeror any other programmable data processing device, such that the computeror the programmable data processing device can perform a series ofoperations/steps to achieve a computer-implemented process. In this way,the instructions executed on the computer or the programmable dataprocessing device can provide steps for implementing the functionsspecified by one or more processes in the flowcharts and/or one or moreblocks in the block diagrams.

While the embodiments of the present disclosure have described above,further alternatives and modifications can be made to these embodimentsby those skilled in the art in light of the basic inventive concept ofthe present disclosure. The claims as attached are intended to cover theabove embodiments and all these alternatives and modifications that fallwithin the scope of the present disclosure.

Obviously, various modifications and variants can be made to the presentdisclosure by those skilled in the art without departing from the spiritand scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, these modifications andvariants are to be encompassed by the present disclosure if they fallwithin the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims andtheir equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for vehicle control, comprising:obtaining manual operation information of a vehicle, the manualoperation information including a first value representing an extent ofbraking applied by a driver of the vehicle in operating a brakecontroller; obtaining automated operation information for the vehicle,the automated operation information including a second valuerepresenting an extent of braking calculated by a driving control unitto be applied to the brake controller; determining an interventionintention of the driver based on the manual operation information andthe automated operation information, wherein the intervention intentionis determined to be a slow intervention when the first value is largerthan the second value; and controlling, when the vehicle is in anautomated driving mode and the intervention intention is determined tobe a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach a predetermined safe stateand handing control of the vehicle over to the driver.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein determining the intervention intention of the driverfurther comprises: determining the intervention intention is the slowintervention when a difference between the first value and the secondvalue is less than a first threshold.
 3. The method of claim 2, whereindetermining the intervention intention of the driver further comprises:determining the intervention intention is an emergency intervention whenthe difference between the first value and the second value is greaterthan the first threshold.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:responding, when the vehicle is currently in the automated driving modeand the intervention intention is determined to be the emergencyintervention, to the manual operation information and handingcorresponding control of the vehicle over to the driver.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein said controlling the vehicle to reach thepredetermined safe state comprises: controlling the vehicle todecelerate and maintain its lane, until the vehicle stops in a safearea.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the manual operation informationfurther includes a third value representing an extent of operation on alateral controller of the vehicle, and wherein the method furthercomprises: determining the intervention intention is an emergencyintervention when the third value is greater than a second threshold. 7.The method of claim 6, further comprising, when the vehicle is currentlyin the automated driving mode and the intervention intention isdetermined to be the emergency intervention: controlling the lateralcontroller based on the third value and handing lateral control of thevehicle over to the driver.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the thirdvalue comprises a torque value applied by a steering wheel in thevehicle to a hydraulic steering mechanism or a hydraulic-electric hybridsteering mechanism.
 9. A vehicle, comprising: a driving control unitconfigured to control one or more functions of the vehicle; a brakecontroller configured to apply a decelerating force to the vehicle; aprocessor; and at least one memory storing executable instructions,execution of which by the processor causes the processor to: obtainmanual operation information of the vehicle, the manual operationinformation including a first value representing an extent of brakingapplied by a driver of the vehicle in operating the brake controller;obtain automated operation information for the vehicle, the automatedoperation information including a second value representing an extent ofbraking calculated by the driving control unit to be applied to thebrake controller; determine an intervention intention of the driverbased on the manual operation information and the automated operationinformation, wherein the intervention intention is determined to be aslow intervention when the first value is larger than the second value;and control, when the vehicle is in an automated driving mode and theintervention intention is determined to be a slow intervention, thevehicle to reach a predetermined safe state and handing control of thevehicle over to the driver.
 10. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein thefirst value represents the extent of braking applied by the driver ofthe vehicle as one of: an opening degree of a brake pedal; adeceleration value of the vehicle; or a torque value of an engine in thevehicle.
 11. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein handing control of thevehicle over to the driver comprises handing partial control of thevehicle to the driver.
 12. The vehicle of claim 9, wherein handingcontrol of the vehicle over to the driver comprises handing full controlof the vehicle to the driver.
 13. The vehicle of claim 9, furthercomprising: a lateral controller; wherein the manual operationinformation further includes a third value representing an extent ofoperation on a lateral controller of the vehicle, and wherein theinstructions further cause the processor to: determine the interventionintention is an emergency intervention when the third value is greaterthan a second threshold.
 14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein thelateral controller comprises a steering wheel, and wherein the thirdvalue comprises a torque value applied by the steering wheel to ahydraulic steering mechanism or a hydraulic-electric hybrid steeringmechanism.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storingexecutable instructions, execution of which by one or more processorscausing the one or more processors to: obtain manual operationinformation of a vehicle, the manual operation information including afirst value representing an extent of braking applied by a driver of thevehicle in operating a brake controller; obtain automated operationinformation for the vehicle, the automated operation informationincluding a second value representing an extent of braking calculated bya driving control unit to be applied to the brake controller; determinean intervention intention of the driver based on the manual operationinformation and the automated operation information, wherein theintervention intention is determined to be a slow intervention when thefirst value is larger than the second value; and control, when thevehicle is in an automated driving mode and the intervention intentionis determined to be a slow intervention, the vehicle to reach apredetermined safe state and handing control of the vehicle over to thedriver.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim15: wherein the manual operation information further includes a fourthvalue representing an extent of acceleration applied by the driver ofthe vehicle in operating a throttle controller; and wherein theautomated operation information further includes a fifth valuerepresenting an extent of acceleration calculated by the driving controlunit to be applied to the throttle controller.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein execution of theinstructions further causes the one or more processors to: when thefourth value is less than or equal to the fifth value, determining theintervention intention is an erroneous operation; and control thevehicle in the automated driving mode in response to determining theintervention intention is the erroneous operation.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, whereinexecution of the instructions further causes the one or more processorsto: when the fourth value is larger than the fifth value and adifference between the fourth value and the fifth value is less than athird threshold, determining the intervention intention is an erroneousoperation; and control the vehicle in the automated driving mode inresponse to determining the intervention intention is the erroneousoperation.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 16, wherein execution of the instructions further causes the oneor more processors to: in response to the first value being smaller thanthe second value, determine the intervention intention of the driverbased on the fourth value and the fifth value.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein execution of theinstructions further causes the one or more processors to: determine theintervention intention of the driver to be the slow intervention inresponse to the fourth value being larger than the fifth value.